BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- Senior Amanda Kelly made her first basket of the night, a 3-pointer with 26 seconds left, gave the Illinois Wesleyan women's basketball team a 66-65 win over No. 23-ranked Wheaton on Saturday, Jan. 7 at the Shirk Center.

The Titans improved to 8-5 overall while the Thunder slipped to 9-3. Both teams are 3-1 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin.

Titan junior Molly McGraw scored 23 points and made 9-of-10 from the free throw line and sophomore Maddie Merritt had 21 points and got seven rebounds. The Titans were led in rebounding with 10 from junior Rebekah Ehresman, who suffered a right leg injury and missed the final 4:30 of the game.

IWU let a 55-46 lead with 8:52 to play in the game dissipate and the Thunder went on a 14-4 run to command a 64-59 lead with 1:46 to play. A basket by Merritt, at 1:32, two free throws by McGraw at :42 and the basket by Kelly got the Titans seven points while the Thunder got only a free throw by Chantel Meacham in the final 1:46.

The Thunder were led by the 19 points off the bench from Ellie Zeller while Kelly Lawson added 13. All-American guard Katie McDaniels was limited to four points, all from the free throw line, as she was 0-for-12 from the field.

What's Next?
Illinois Wesleyan is at home again Wednesday night for a 7 p.m. tipoff against North Park.